Andy McCarthy: Trump is better off pardoning Roger Stone
Andy McCarthy weighs in on Democrats calling for AG Barr's resignation over the handling of Roger Stone's sentencing, and if Trump should pardon his former adviser
Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Andy McCarthy on Thursday cautioned President Trump about weighing in on prosecutorial matters, such as the recommended sentence for former adviser Roger Stone.
“It’s not prudent,” McCarthy told “America’s Newsroom,” while noting “prosecution” is a power vested in the executive branch of government.
“Should he do it? No, because he undermines the ability of his Justice Department to function,” McCarthy said, arguing that Trump's tweets on Justice Department matters could have unintended consequences.
"What I would be worried about is that if anything comes out of the [U.S. Attorney John] Durham investigation if the president continues this kind of pattern. What he’s fueling is a claim later on that [the Durham] investigation is just a political tool and I don’t think that what he wants to do," said McCarthy.
Fox News reported earlier this week that top brass at the Department of Justice were "shocked" that prosecutors handling the Stone case had recommended that U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson reduce the 67-year-old's sentence to between 87 and 108 months in prison.
The prosecutors asserted in the Monday filing that Stone's conduct post-indictment – including violating the judge's social media gag orders – merited a sentence much longer than the 15 to 21 months that the defense said was actually advisable under the federal guidelines.
In a new amended filing Tuesday afternoon, the DOJ told Jackson that the government "respectfully submits that a sentence of incarceration far less than 87 to 108 months' imprisonment would be reasonable under the circumstances," but that the government "ultimately defers to the court as to the specific sentence to be imposed."
McCarthy said that President Trump is better off pardoning Stone as he faces a harsh prison sentence recommendation from a reportedly biased process. McCarthy referred to resurfaced tweets that indicate partisanship and “inherent bias” from a jury member against Stone.
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“Pardon him — take the weight for it if there is political weight to be taken. The president has a very strong argument about the nature of the investigation against [Stone]," McCarthy said.
“I don’t know how much political weight he actually would have to bear, but it would be much better if he stepped up to the plate and took the weight for doing that rather than appear like he’s trying to pressure the Justice Department," he added.
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